In water-cooled engine cylinder head design, sufficient cooling may need to be provided to the bore bridge between adjacent engine cylinders. The bore bridge on the cylinder block and/or the cylinder head is a stressed area with little packaging space. Beads on a head gasket surrounding each cylinder are close to one another along the bore bridge, and stresses from one bead may translate to the bead of a neighboring cylinder, which may also reduce fatigue strength of the gasket. In small, high output engines, the packaging, thermal stress, and mechanical stress may be increased. The high temperatures and stress in this area may reduce fatigue strength of the surrounding components. Additionally, high temperatures at the bore bridge may increase valve seat distortion, which in turn may lead to biased wear, valve leaks, rough engine idling, and/or reduced engine power output.